Cold pipe bender



June 19, 1951l L. 'a'.sTRlNGFlELD 2,557,579

com PIPE BENDER Filed Nov. 8, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MH- lw; O

Efuuuouennunun [6 000000 CIOOOOOO G/ Inventor June 19, 1951 L. T.STRINGFIELD v 2,557,579

COLD PIPE BENDER Filed Nov. 8, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Lam, r sm'ngf/b/dIISIIIIIIHISIIIS{ISQISIISHISIISHISINISI R24 if P F/g.6`.

Inventor Patented June 19, 1951 `com) PIPE BENDER Luther T. Stringfeld,Austin, Tex., assigner of forty-nine per cent to Tate T. Stringlield,Austin, Tex.

Application November 8, 1948, Serial No. 58,963

1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to tools for bending material, and moreparticularly to a cold pipe bender comprising a rotatable plate, meansfor rotating this plate, xed upright members on the plate and a set ofdies selectively adjustably mounted on said plate.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a cold pipe bender whichmay be used to bend various sized pipe through various angles withoutmutilating the pipe, that is, without over stretching, flattening orbuckling any portion of the pipe. v

Another object of this invention is to provide a cold pipe bender whichmay be used to produce very small radius bends, even in relatively largediameter pipe. Y A

Still another object of this invention is to provide a pipe bender inwhich the adjustment thereof is extremely simple in order to adapt thebender for different sized work.

Still another object of this invention is toV provide an improved diewhich will allow the convenient placement of the work in juxtaposi-ltion with xed upright members on the plate, thereby allowing moreaccurate bends to be produced, the die being fashioned in two sections,the upper portion being easily removable,

And a last object to be mentioned specically is to provide a pipe benderof the class described which is relatively inexpensive and practicableto manufacture, which is extremely safe, convenient and simple to use,and which give generally eicient and durable service.

With these objects definitely in view, this invention resides in certainnovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of elementsand portions which will be hereinafter describedin detail in thespeciiication, particularly pointed out in the appended claim, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part ofthis application, and in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the assembled pipe bender with a sectionof work therein and represented as having been bent through a rightangle;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1,the movable elements and the work being shown in the positions assumedwhen the work has been placed in the machine and before a bend has beenmade therein;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the supporting table, rotatableplate and driving pinion, the view being taken on the line 3 3 in Figure1 and the die and work being' removed;

Figure 4 is a three dimensional view of a removable axis pin used forselective securement.

of the dies and apertures in said rotatable plate;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional View, fragmentary in character asrelated to the rotatable plate, and adapted to illustrate theconstruction of one of the set of dies provided with this machine;

Figure 6 is a grouped view of the two complementary sections of one ofthe dies.

Similar characters of reference designate drawings as comprised of angleiron, marginal supporting members I2 which may also be of angleiron'mounted to the members IU, and a table III bolted to the supportingmembers I2 as illustrated at I6. The specic construction of this tablesupport is not particularly material. in this application, the essentialfeature thereof l being provision of rigid support for a bearing I8whereby a pinion shaft 2U is rotatably mounted. The table I4 willordinarily be horizontal and the pinion shaft 20 will be vertical. Adrive pinion 22 is carried on the upper end of the drive shaft 2G anddisposed above the top of the table I4.

The plate 24 of circular shape is rotatably mounted by a bearing 26 anda stub shaft 28 on the upper surface of the table I4, and it will' benoted that the periphery of the plate 24 is.

provided with gear teeth 30 which are in constant mesh with the teeth ofthe pinion 22. Any

suitable means may be used to drive the pinion shaft 20, it beingenvisaged in this invention that the pinion shaft will be driven by asmall electric motor (not shown) or by a hand crank. `with a complementof reduction gears (not shown) Y be clearly evident from an inspectionof Figures 1 and 2. The said two lines will ordinarily be rightangularly disposed. These upright members .are illustrated as havingVsquare heads and cylindrical attachment Shanks 34 and 35, respectively,as illustrated best in Figure 5, and the apertures in the plate 24adapted to receive the shank portions 3G will necessarily also becylindrical.

The plate 24 is also provided with diametrically and chordally disposedlines of apertures 38 to receive a shank 48 of a removable axis pin 42which is provided with a square head 44. The square head 44 is used forthe selective support of dies indicated generally by the numeral 56. Itshould be here noted that the apertures in the plate which are adaptedto receive the shank portions 38 of the upright members 32 may be of thesame diameter as the apertures to receive the Shanks 49, so that theupright members and the axis pins 42 are interchangeably and selectivelysecurable in a very wide plurality of combinations to provide forvariation in the effective or operational spacing therebetween, so thatdifferent sizes of work, represented by the pipe 48 may be accommodatedand bent by the machine..

The set of dies 416 of various sizes is provided with this machine, andeach die is constructed according to the principles illustrated in thedrawings. Each die is comprised with a square bore 56 disposed centrallythereof to receive the head 41% of the removable axis pin 42. Each ofthe sections 58 and 52 is peripherally recessed as at 56, and when thedie is assembled the recessed portions 56 are adjacent to each other andthus provide a. peripheral groove to receive the work 48. Studs 58 areused to removably secure the sections 50 and 52 together, these studsbeing inserted through apertures 50 in section 52 and screwed intoapertures 62 in the section 59. It will be realized that the die isdivided into two sections in order to facilitate insertion of the work88 thereinto, while the work is in juxtaposition with the squared headportions 39 of the upright members 32.

The operation of this invention will be clearly understood from theforegoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken inconnection with the above recitation of the objects sought to beachieved by this invention.. In recapitulation, the upright members 32will be disposed of the plate 24 in such manner as that illustrated inFigures 1 and 2, it being understood that all of the upright membersillustrated in these figures need not be simultaneously positioned uponthe plate. The Figures 1 and 2 should clarify the feature of thisinvention relating to the adaptability of the pipe bender for making aconsiderable variety of different radiused bends in instances where morethan one suchV die is provided with the machine. Obviously, one end (notshown) of the work is held against movement while the plate 24 is r0-tated by the pinion 22 and the power means used with the machine. Inusing the machine, the` operator may so arrange the work that this workis not necessarily stretched, flattened or otherwise deformed other thanin the production of the regular bend, and in the light of the foregoingdescription it will be evident that all of the objects cited above arefully achieved by this invention.

Many minor variations may be made in the exact construction and theproportionment of the various elements of this invention all within thespirit and scope thereof. Accordingly limitation of the scope of thisinvention should be determined only in accordance with the properinterpretation of the subjoined claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a cold pipe bender, a rotatable plate having a circular peripherywith teeth thereon, a gear provided with teeth enmeshed with the teethon said plate and adapted to impart rotation to said plate, meanssupporting said plate and said gear for rotation, said plate beingprovided with rows of apertures arranged both diametrically andchordally of said plate, upright members arranged in rows and mounted inselected apertures on one side of said plate, each of said membershaving at least one flat side to constitute a supporting surface for awork piece, a lower die section and an upper dies section, meansmounting said die sections on said side of said plate eccentrically ofsaid plate, said die sections being peripherally recessed on adjacentsides to provide a work receiving groove to accommodate a lateralsurface of the work opposite from the lateral surface which is adaptedto contact the fiat sides of said members, and means releasablyfastening said upper die section to said lower die section so that saidupper die section may be removed from the lower die section to providean entrance for the Work.

LUTHER T. STRINGFIELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 397,712 Fowler Feb. 12, 1889790,600 Stambaugh May 23, 1905 1,042,112 Hartman Oct. 22, 1912 1,299,583Lacourse Apr. 18, 1919 1,324,940 Theberath Dec. 16, 1919 1,610,201Cavagnaro Dec. 7, 1926 1,795,188 Wagenbach Mar. 3, 1931 1,849,181Francis Mar, 15, 1932 2,055,955 Wagenbach Sept. 29, 1936 2,444,719 BathJuly 6, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 768 Great Britain Jan.18, 1888 126,512 Great Britain May 15, 1919

